Time Shift
by abrynne
Summary: Sequel to Slip, my previous fic also posted here. The spacetime continuum gets tied in knots when Peter tries to protect what he loves from a future yet very familiar villain.
1. Chapter 1

Putting her sneakers on, she let out a relaxed sigh as her feet were relieved of the heels she'd been wearing all night. Her eyes fell on her reflection in the mirror and she was considering changing out of her dress before going home when there was a small knock on the door.

"Come in." she said as she took her hair down.  
Peter's face appeared reflected in the mirror when he entered behind her. He said nothing, watching her hair fall along her shoulders as she took the pins out of it one by one.

"I thought you were leaving." She said as he walked in and stood closely behind her, uncertain of how he should act around her now.  
"Hiro had to leave." He said. No doubt he was reporting to Claire.  
"He's so cute." She smiled and the final section of hair came down, "I'm glad you both came."

For Ellen, the evening had been quite successful – the club had been almost filled up which included the creepy man who sometimes came and sat in the corner. She couldn't be certain but Ellen felt that his eyes were always on her.

"You're tired." Peter observed, looking concerned.  
"Thanks." She said sarcastically. "Yes, I am."  
They were both hesitating, avoiding the one thing that was on both of their minds.

"Why is it I feel you know me much better than you're letting on?" she said, raising her eyes to his own reflected in the mirror.  
Peter approached her until she could feel the warmth from him on her back. "If this is about what I said earlier – "  
"I don't know what it's about." She sighed, rubbing her fingers on her cheeks, underneath her eyes. "Something is just strange about this – about you and me. It seems so out of blue – like you suddenly fell out of the sky and here we are." She sighed, "I don't think I'm making a lot of sense."

Peter followed every word and understood it perfectly even if she didn't but he still remained silent, his hands twitching to touch her.  
"You're right, I am tired."

He rested his hands on her hips and she could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, "I'll walk you home."  
Ellen moved away and threw her coat over her shoulders as he held the door open for her.

----

The street was deserted for the most part – a few passersby walked around him, giving him a wide birth as they did so. He felt incredibly relaxed, his mind quite clear. Experience and his self taught patience had made him calmer, his thoughts more focused and less frantic, obsessive.

He stood in the darkness and breathed in the chilly air through his nose. When he had decided to come he had been a little wary of what seeing her again would do to him. In all honesty he did love her for that short while when they had first met, and she had looked so clear to him, so trusting and alive. But he had allowed his unfocused thoughts, his obsessions and anger to interfere, which caused him to lose both Ellen herself and her powers.  
It seemed though, that his task wouldn't be as easy as he had originally considered. Peter Petrelli, even now, after so many conflicts, stale mates, and losses, still remained the only obstacle to him. The words Peter had spoken to her still echoed, rattling around in his head like a pin ball machine – _I believe that I love you, Ellen._ Even in that instance, he reeked of uncertainty.

Sylar could tell she had been shocked by his sudden confession yet she still accepted him. But that was only her nature. Ellen Warren was the kindest person he had ever known and Peter was quite undeserving of her in any time – especially after spouting out that maddening conversation afterwards.

He brushed his hair out of his eyes, buttoning his long coat that went down to his ankles – the air was getting colder. He could almost see his breath mist into a cloud in front of him. His eyes were tired and he rubbed them. He'd been away for so long he believed his internal clock to be broken, ironic as that would sound. He wasn't as young as he used to be either.

They were coming out finally – he was still with her.  
"It's gotten cold." Ellen said, pulling her coat closer around her.

Shadow crept up about him and he followed as noiselessly as possible.

Peter agreed with her and they started down the sidewalk together – the very place where they had met the very first time. But to Peter, that was history that would not happen. As Hiro had pointed out, time had already changed, events would be different because of Peter.  
They walked side by side, Ellen's sneaker's squeaking on the pavement. The silence was palpable, even Sylar could feel it between them.

_He loves me. But how could he love me? He doesn't know me hardly at all.  
_Peter disagreed in his own mind.  
_Do I love him?  
_He tensed and let out a slow breath.  
_I don't think so. I like being with him. I like how he makes me feel when he looks at me. I like his scent and his smile…But love?_

Peter had to hold his tongue to keep her from telling her to cut it out.  
"It's true, you know." He said instead.

"What is true?" she put a hand to her mouth to stifle a yawn.  
"If I tried denying how I feel about you I'm actually afraid of what would happen."  
Sylar's eyes narrowed.

"I believe you, Peter."  
_I couldn't tell you why, though._

I just – it's hard to know how to react," Ellen continued and shivered, "It caught me off guard. I'm sorry."  
"It's not your fault."

There was a rush of air and Peter looked ahead of them, stopping her with him. He glanced behind and saw nothing.  
"Did you hear that?" he whispered.  
"Hear what?" Ellen looked around them as well but the street looked as ordinary as it ever had before.

There was another heart beat but it was slower than most he'd heard. It was probably an old drunk somewhere close by. Peter relaxed for a second and looked behind them again. He blinked and blinked again. The shadows seemed to be moving but there was no breeze and Peter doubted any type of climate change could have caused what he'd just seen. It looked as thought the shadows melted into each other and then stopped quickly when he was looking.

"Peter, what is it?" Ellen hissed.  
Peter shook his head, his eyes still on the street behind them. "Someone is here." He said slowly and heard her take in a breath quickly.  
"Where?" Ellen looked around frantically.  
"He's following us." Peter could only think of one person capable of doing anything remotely close to what he believed he saw. But how could he be there? He didn't have the ability.

"Peter, you're starting to freak me out – come on." She took his arm and tugged at him until he reluctantly started walking with her.  
To his own surprise, he didn't feel afraid. He was angry. Heat was building up inside of him at the thought of Sylar actually being there. How dare he come back there to see her when it was he who had taken her life in the first place even after Peter had tried and tried going back over and over again to stop the event from happening.  
He had watched her die so many times.

Peter pushed the thought from his mind as his logic kicked in. He must have only seen something that wasn't really there. It couldn't have been him. Impossible.

They walked the rest of the way without incident though Ellen seemed to be a little twitchy. Sylar watched calmly as Peter went into her apartment building with her. She had asked him to stay though she could not love him. Sylar still knew it and no matter what he did she would never look at Peter as Sylar remembered the way she looked at him. Indeed, it would be more difficult and he would not make the mistake of underestimating Peter again.  
He stood quietly, staring up at her window on the second floor as the light came on and listened.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." She said from her bedroom as Peter came into the living room.  
_What if someone was following us? Please, please let him stay._ She thought.

Peter smiled to himself, "I told you not to worry about it."  
He sat on the couch next to an orange ball of fur that seemed to be breathing. Stewart raised his head at the sudden disturbance of his couch cushion and looked blearily at Peter who put his fingers to the cat's nose. Stewart sniffed and gave Peter a lick on his finger tips, signaling his approval and lowered his head as he closed his eyes again.

Ellen came out wearing an old T-shirt and a pair of cut off sweat pants. Peter looked up and saw her as she entered the living room – she still struck him even with the simple clothes she wore and her face clean of makeup.  
"I have some sweats that I think might fit you if you wanted to change." She was saying.

Peter gripped the arm of the couch and stood, his eyes focused as he walked to her. Ellen moved to hand him the folded pair of sweats but in one swift movement he came up to her, placed his hands on her cheeks and kissed her firmly, not allowing her any room for protest or denial.  
Ellen widened her eyes but then relaxed as his hands moved to her neck, then her waist. She closed her bright eyes and slipped into his kiss.

On the street below, Sylar could hear them – Peter believed he was in love with her, no doubt, no amount of convincing would sway that stubborn man from it now. Perhaps he wasn't as indecisive as expected.  
No matter. Sylar continued to linger there even after the first breaths of dawn could be seen in the city.  
He would be patient.


	2. Chapter 2

Rain pounded on the windows. The sky overhead was dark and moody despite the fact that it was nearly midday. A loud clap of thunder tore through the sky and his hazel eyes opened, alert to the sound.  
He stared at the ceiling for a moment or two until he heard her sigh contentedly in her sleep. Her hand slid slowly across his chest and to his neck as she shifted in her sleep. She didn't wake and slept on.

It was then Peter realized the position he was in. He lay on his back, both he and Ellen squished together on the couch. Part of her body was pinned between him and the back of the couch but she didn't seem to mind at the moment. Her hair rippled over his ribs in dark waves, her head resting on his chest and his wrinkled shirt.  
Peter began to feel the stiffness in his neck from the odd position his head had been in, propped up against the arm of the couch all night. He looked down and saw the top of Ellen's head, just below his chin.

Another rumble of thunder sounded and he saw and felt her body jerk in response to it before she woke.  
Ellen opened her eyes and saw the back of her couch about an inch away from her nose. She nearly allowed herself to doze off again until she heard the soft thump of a heart rhythm in her ear and then she began to realize how warm she was without any blankets over her.  
Without lifting her head she moved her fingers about, feeling Peter's neck, the stubble on his chin, his mouth and nose. She found his ear and pinched it.

"Ow." Peter groaned. "What are you doing?" he smiled as she raised her head and looked up at him with her bright eyes.  
"Hey." She said and he replied with the same greeting.  
"I don't think I can move." She said.  
"Me either." Peter said truthfully, "Not that I really want to move." He grinned at her.

He felt her legs untangle themselves from his own and watched as she twisted around, careful not to hurt him and slid off of him onto the floor. After the dull thud that resulted, she sat up and faced him, her hair tangled and in her eyes as he started laughing.

The downpour continued into the afternoon which swayed Ellen and Peter to stall their day and say indoors.  
Ellen had dressed and put her washed hair up in a loose twist at the back of her head when Peter came out of the bathroom, a towel around his waist. She looked at him and quickly snapped her eyes to the suddenly interesting contents on her dresser.  
"Your clothes are in the dryer." Ellen said.  
Peter walked in the general direction of the dryer doing his best to ignore her thoughts and hiding his smile.

----

He knew Peter's mind, what there was of it, and therefore knew very well he would be proving his power to her soon. The rain hadn't bothered him even though Sylar looked soaked, his hair matted on his head and face, and his coat heavy on his shoulders being saturated with water.  
It would be quite soon. He moved to the alley between the apartment buildings and waited.

----

Ellen looked up as he came back into her bedroom, buttoning his shirt and thanked the stars that he had dressed.  
"I've been thinking about what you said." She said as Peter wandered in and sat on the bed. "I think I know where I'd like to go."  
Peter raised his eyebrows at her.

"You travel through time, right?" she said and Peter understood.  
"You don't believe me."  
"Of course not, Peter. I only wish I knew what you really meant. I like you and talking of such things is not an average thing someone experiences in a relationship."

Peter's brow furrowed and he pursed his lips as he looked at her, "How can you say that when you know very well what you're capable of?" It had spilled from him before he could stop himself and he looked nervously at Ellen.  
Her eyes flashed and her body tensed at the mention of her power. "What are you talking about?"  
_How could you possibly know about that? I haven't used it in so long._

Peter was a little afraid to answer but if this was the only way to convince her, to begin to save her, so be it. "Sit down, Ellen." He said.  
She didn't move and looked interested in the carpet beneath her feet.  
"Please." He added sincerely.  
Ellen walked stiffly over to him and sat next to him on the edge of the bed. She wouldn't look at him, keeping her eyes fixed on a certain point on the floor in front of her.

"You are right," Peter began, "I know you very well. I know what you're capable of – a fantastic and frightening power that you have managed to hide inside yourself for so long. I know because in all reality you meet me for the first time a few months from now." He saw her eyes raise to him and her mouth open ready to speak but he was faster, "Please, let me get all of this out first." He said.

She remained silent and continued listening.  
"We meet because I try to warn you about a man you have begun to see – a killer, a monster who has abilities like us, like Claire Bennett as well."  
He risked a glance at her but there was no reaction that he could see to Claire's name.

"How does the story end?" her voice shook slightly.  
"I'm hoping it hasn't ended yet." Peter finally turned to face her. "I am here to save you, Ellen."

She didn't speak, unable to find anything appropriate to respond but she knew without a doubt that he believed what he said to be true. So, either he was out of his mind or he was right. Ellen wasn't sure which scenario frightened her more.  
"He kills me?"  
"Yes." Peter could barely say the word and choked on it as he spoke.  
"Why?"

"He kills to gain power or to take something from someone else. I've tried so many times…" he looked distressed for a moment until he looked at her again, "But now I know I can keep you alive if you will let me." his eyes were intense as he spoke. "You have to trust me."  
_…outrageous – absolutely mad_

Peter considered for a moment, "Where would you like me to take you?"  
Ellen looked away and didn't answer, feeling the prick of tears in her eyes.  
_…miss dad so much – ten years ago, _Peter heard.

"What is it? You can tell me, Ellen." Peter put an arm around her but she shrugged him off.  
"My father." She said, her eyes glistening, "He taught me how to ride a bike, we would read the same books when I got older, and he sang to me. Mom and I never got along as well. Especially after he died."

"I need you to trust me, Ellen. Do you?" he held out his hand to her and waited.  
"You're out of your mind." She said.  
"That's a different issue." He said and smiled as she laughed softly, "Do you trust me?"  
Ellen swallowed hard and nodded, taking his hand.

Peter closed his eyes and the bedroom was empty save for a slight breeze coming in through the open window and the echoes of the dying storm.

----

They had gone. The rain had stopped and he could no longer hear them. It was rather unfortunate. Peter was making it so much more difficult for himself in the end by taking her away.  
Sylar glanced up at the rumbling and moody sky as he thought. He would have to track them. It would take a few tries but he would find them. He sighed and removed his heavy coat, hanging in up to dry on the fire escape of the building.

An old grey cat wandered into the alley and stopped, eyeing the tall dark figure that stood there. The feline narrowed its eyes, blinked and found itself alone in the alley with the long black coat hanging from the building.

----

Ellen felt soft grass beneath her feet, her hand still held in Peter's.  
"You'll have to tell me where to go from here." He spoke softly behind her in her ear.

Ellen looked around and felt her breath catch in her chest. She could hardly believe what was before her. They stood on a street corner of her old neighborhood, lined with old fashioned homes, manicured lawns, waxed station wagons, and a couple of dogs barking to each other in the distance.

"Do you know it?" Peter said.  
"Very well." She let out a laugh, "I left here over seven years ago. It looks exactly the same as I remember. How did you do this?" she spoke breathlessly and began walking down the sidewalk for a short distance, Peter followed.  
They came to a stop in front of an older house painted blue with white trim and a few shingles missing from the roof. It was a quaint house that looked as though it could always do with some sort of renovation. Peter saw the name on the mailbox read "Warren." but Ellen's eyes were fixed straight ahead of them, further down the sidewalk.

A little girl sat on her child's bicycle with white tires and a purple paint job, pink and purple streamers coming out of the ends of the handlebars. She sat on it carefully, her helmet slipping to one side of her head, but her face serious with concentration as her small hands gripped the handlebars.  
There was no mistaking those bright blue eyes, like the center of a flame, and the dark curls peeking out from under her helmet.

The front door to the house opened and Peter gripped Ellen's hand quickly, allowing them to be invisible to those on the street. A tall man with dark hair just like the little girl's walked out and sidled down the lawn to her.  
"Okay, Boo." He said as he approached the child and fixed her helmet as he crouched down in front of her and the bicycle, "Are you ready?"

She shook her head violently at him, "Noooo!" she said. Peter heard Ellen laugh.  
"Ellie-Boo what's wrong?" her Dad lifted her off the bike and held her up to him so they were face to face.  
"Two wheels." Little Ellen said shaking her head, "I'll fall on two wheels." She said putting her bottom lip out in a pout, though Peter could hear the simple thoughts from her. She truly was frightened.

Her Dad smiled and kissed her on her round cheek, "I won't let you fall, Boo. I'll be right with you the whole time. If you want to stop, I'll stop and we won't do it ever again! I promise."  
Little Ellen considered for a moment and slowly nodded as her Dad put her back on the bicycle seat. But before he got behind her, her Dad crouched down in front of her again, "Kisses first?" he said and without a considering thought the little girl leaned over the handlebars and pecked her Dad on the lips before he smiled again and stood behind his daughter.

It was unmistakably Ellen's smile and her bright blue eyes. The resemblance was fantastically striking to Peter. He looked at his Ellen. Her cheeks were wet with tears but she was smiling as they watched her younger self take her first run on her bike with her father trailing behind until he let her go.

They watched invisible to anyone else, the first few trial runs until Ellen's mother came out onto the porch with the camera.  
Ellen's eyes rested on her mother before she turned to Peter, "Thank you, Peter. Let's go."  
"Are you sure?" Peter said, wiping the tears from her cheeks.

Ellen nodded, "I was so scared of that thing." She said as they started walking away.  
"I can see why…Ellie-Boo." Peter stifled a snort of laughter until they walked around the corner and vanished from the street, little Ellen giggling madly behind them as she did loops in the street after realizing she was riding the two wheels on her own without falling.

Little Ellen was riding famously when her mother poked her head out of the front door, "Steve, you've got a phone call." She called to her husband.  
Mr. Warren looked up and beckoned Ellen to come back to the sidewalk. "I'll be right back, Boo. Stay right here, okay? You promise?"  
Ellen nodded her head, her helmet slipping over her eyes, "Promise." She said in her small voice.

Mr. Warren jogged back up the lawn and took the phone from his wife who followed him inside.  
Ellen rang her new silver bell that Daddy had attached to her handlebars when the sunlight was blocked from above her. She looked up and was met with a _huge_ man in strange clothes. He smiled at her and squatted down in front of her.

"Are you afraid of me?" he said kindly.  
Ellen nodded, avoiding his eyes. He looked old, older than her Daddy, with hair on his face.  
"You didn't even give me a chance." He said, sounding hurt.

Ellen immediately looked up afraid she had made him sad and saw his bright eyes in front of her and his lips curved into an honest smile.  
"There you are." He said sounding breathless as he was met with her shocking blue eyes that he new so well.

"You have big eyebrows." She said honestly, but she liked him.  
Sylar smiled and nodded, "And you have very pretty eyes." He said, lacing his hands in the streamers flapping from the handlebars.  
"Thank you." She said.

Sylar looked towards the house and could just see the mother's face in the window. She held a phone reciever in her hand. He waved and smiled as genuinely as he knew how but he wasn't as stupid to believe that she'd actually fall for that. It would give him another minute or so.

"I bet you I can guess your name." he said.  
Ellen giggled and shook her head, "Betchya can't!" she challenged.  
Sylar pretended to think hard, rubbing his chin with his forefinger and thumb. "Is it…Ellen?"

Ellen's jaw dropped and her eyes were wide as disks, staring at her fantastic new friend. "Yeah!" she said. "How'd you know?"  
"I can do magic." He said. He glanced at the window again and the mother had gone.  
"Can I see?" Ellen said.

"I'm going to ask you a question first. If you can give me a good answer, I'll show you a trick." he said as he stood up.  
Ellen had to crane her neck as far as it would go to look up at him. "What?"  
"Did you see anyone here besides your mommy and daddy? Maybe a girl with pretty eyes like yours and a man with her?"

Ellen's face fell. She hadn't seen anyone and she started to struggle as the temptation of telling a lie to the man came into her mind.  
Sylar knew already when she hesitated. They had been there, he felt it with everything he knew. The child simply hadn't seen them.

"It's alright, Ellen." He said. "Are you ready for the trick?"  
Ellen grinned broadly and opened her eyes wide to keep herself from blinking so she wouldn't miss a bit of his magic.

Sylar stepped a pace away from the child on her bicycle and stooped so his hands touched the ground, "Watch closely now." He said.  
The ground rippled and morphed beneath his hands. He brought them up his legs, to his torso and chest until his entire body looked as though it were beneath a surface of water. He kept his eyes on her until the very last moment, feeling a tingle behind them as he looked at her and he closed them.

Ellen watched in utter amazement as the man disappeared before her very eyes. She let out a delighted scream just as Steven was burst through the front door, twitching his head this way and that as he searched. Her mother was close behind and caught up to her husband when he stopped at Ellen and her bicycle. "But I saw him, Steve! He was so strange and he was talking to Ellie like he knew her."

Steven was breathing hard from the adrenaline rush and looked down at Ellen who looked back smiling. "Did you see someone, Ellie?"  
Ellen nodded, "He showed me a magic trick!" she said excitedly.

Steven rubbed his hand over his face, looking up and down the street. "Well, whoever he was, he's not here now. We can tip off the police about him at least."  
His wife was gripping his arm tightly and agreed.

"They won't find him." Ellen said wisely. "He can disappear!" she put her hands in front of her face and put them over her eyes, making herself disappear.


	3. Chapter 3

This nonsense was tiring him. At first thought he was prepared to wait until she was alone but this gallivanting around with her was getting rather ridiculous. Sylar reappeared in her empty bedroom, his mind made up. He would wait for only a little longer and remove Peter from the very simple equation he had calculated in his mind before starting this little trip.  
Sylar's body stiffened as he heard voices coming suddenly from the front room.

"We're back?" Ellen's voice sounded disbelievingly.  
"Actually, no." Peter said. "We're forward. This is my present time – three months from your own and a little less than a week since your death. It will be as though it never happened. He never would have the chance to meet you or harm you."

Ellen looked at the calendar that hanged on the wall. The months had changed and she recognized her own handwriting for appointments and events she had not yet scheduled. "So this is the solution? I skip three months of my life?" Ellen wasn't certain that she could or should believe it.  
"You avoid meeting him altogether and keep your life." Peter stressed, taking her hands and squeezed them tightly.  
"But what about my job? My friends? Wouldn't I have been considered missing for those months? Since the day you took me?"

Peter opened his mouth to answer but couldn't find the correct words to speak as he tried to sort out the events in his own mind.  
"You should know better than to ask him that, Ellen. He confuses so easily."

They both turned in response to the silky sounding voice. Ellen let out a choked scream.  
Sylar leaned against the doorway to her bedroom, looking casually at them both as though he always magically appeared in people's bedrooms.

"Hello, Ellen." He said softly and smiled sincerely.  
Peter narrowed his eyes at the tall figure in the doorway. He was familiar yet Peter couldn't place him. So familiar. "Who are you?"

Sylar put a hand to his chest, acting wounded, "Ellen's confusion I can understand but it hasn't been _that_ long, has it Peter?" He stepped into the room with slow, smooth strides, his eyes locked on Ellen's face and allowing Peter to get a closer look at him.  
Peter's mind raced until Sylar moved to the window, tearing his gaze away from Ellen for a moment and he saw the profile of his face, the heavy brows over dark, shadowed eyes.

"Sylar." Peter muttered. Impossible! It was not possible! How could he have known?  
"Who?" Ellen said quite calmly without thinking.  
"Excellent." Sylar spoke to Peter but kept his eyes focused on Ellen as though he had never seen a young woman before. "It didn't take you as long as I once thought."  
"But you're – you're not – "Peter stammered as he noticed the differences between the man that stood before them and his old enemy.

Sylar approached them both, "It's what time does, Peter." He said in a low voice.  
Peter then saw the creases in his face, the fine wrinkles under his eyes and at the corners of his mouth, the tint of gray hair at his temples. Sylar reveled in Peter's confusion. "It cannot be that difficult to comprehend, surely."  
"Why are you here?" Peter said.

Sylar touched a hand to his chin, stroking the trimmed beard as he considered the question but Ellen stepped forward, her face thoughtful as she examined Sylar more closely.  
_…magic man._ Peter heard from her.  
She looked at him long and hard, "I remember you." She said vaguely. "I told everyone I knew about the trick the Magic Man had showed me and they never believed me. I started to think it never really happened – it had been my imagination."

In one swift movement, Sylar closed in on her, placing a finger under her chin, "Do you believe it now?" he said quietly, speaking to her as he remembered he used to, before she knew…  
Ellen's eyes were frightened but she didn't move away from him. His presence demanded she obey him, whatever he asked her to do. She felt his warm breath on her face as he spoke and stare, fascinated into the deep chasms that were his dark brown eyes.  
"I admit. I have missed you, Ellen."

"You killed her!" Peter bellowed.  
Sylar raised his eyes to Peter and delighted in the growing rage that showed in the face of his ancient nuisance.  
Ellen pulled away at Peter's words causing Sylar to remember himself. He put his hands to his sides and spoke to them, his words calm and hypnotizing.

"Coincidentally Peter, I am here for the same reason you are. I have come for her." he said and Ellen stepped back to Peter. "Unfortunately I did not plan on chasing after her because of you." Sylar then stretched out his hand and forced Peter's airway shut, lifting him off his feet. His movements were lightning fast as he approached Peter. Their noses were a half an inch apart when Peter heard the familiar growling voice, "Do you remember me now, Peter?" his tone was deadly soft.

Peter's eyes were streaming, his hands clamped around his throat as he gagged and gasped for air. Ellen's shrieking voice seemed to blend into the rest of the background as the lights flashed in front of his eyes.  
Ellen's protests for Sylar to stop went unanswered until his eyes rested on her, "Stop me, then." He threatened.

Peter swallowed and felt the tingling in his hands as his instinct to protect himself took over. Peter thrust his hands forward and a bolt of energy coursed from his arms and hands, making contact with Sylar as it blew him backwards, knocking him off his feet.  
Peter fell to the floor, coughing and spluttering as Ellen ran over and crouched next to him. He wiped his wet eyes and took her arm to help him up.

"Get out of here, Ellen." Peter said, getting to his feet. "I'm alright. Just go!" he said.  
Sylar was already on his feet, his legs spread apart and his eyes closed.  
"Get us both out of here!" Ellen said as she watched Sylar, her hand in Peter's.  
Sylar's fists were tightly closed when a thrust of energy shuddered through is body and he opened his hands. The shockwave flew across the room as Peter tried to concentrate. The powers met at the same time.

Ellen and Peter were knocked backwards with incredible force. Ellen screamed as she was ripped away from Peter from the blast and the room went silent.  
Sylar expected that he'd knocked out the both of them but when he looked about the room he found that he was alone. There wasn't a mark on the wall, or the floor – no evidence that they had ever been there.  
He pursed his lips angrily and lowered his eyes to the floor in attempt to control his frustration. They must have escaped before he'd been able to hit them. A minor set back. He would find them again.

----

He landed hard on his back onto the unforgiving floor. His body ached from the contact of Sylar's blast and he lay there, his eyes closed for a moment before he spoke.  
"Are you okay?" he said

There was no answer.  
Peter opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of his bedroom. "Ellen?" he said and still no response.  
He sat up and felt the blood rushing about his body causing a wave of nausea to hit him. He stood, groaning and looked around the room quickly.  
He looked again.  
She wasn't with him.

Peter's pain was forgotten as he flung his door open and moved towards the landing of the stairs.  
"Peter! Where have you been? They've started tallying the election results." It was Claire's voice, he would know it anywhere, but she wasn't speaking to him.  
"Better than the Super Bowl, I'm sure."

Peter stopped dead at the top of the stairs when he heard his own voice by the front door.  
"It's your brother, Peter." Claire said as they walked out of the entry way. "Imagine being related to the President…and the favors." Claire said and laughed at her own lame joke as Peter chuckled.

Peter stood at the top of the stairs, his mind completely void of any ideas or explanations. He could hear the television being turned on in the family room downstairs wracked his brain frantically. Election day. November 6… 2008.  
That is not where he had wanted to be and if he as confused as he was, Peter would hate to think where Ellen had ended up, alone and in a time he could only guess.

He had to get back to Ellen but where could he start? 2008. He needed help.  
"Claire," Nathan's voice echoed downstairs, "Claire I told you not to turn on the TV until later. It takes a few hours at least." His footsteps tapped on the tile floor until he hit the carpet in the family room.

Peter shook his head at the thought. Nathan wouldn't be able to help him this time. Then the idea came to him like a slap to his face. Without any hesitation, he ran down the stairs and out the door before anyone could see.  
The door slammed. Claire and Nathan turned around at the noise but saw nothing. Peter kept his eyes fixed on the television and slumped down further in the couch.

"What was that?" Claire said.  
Nathan stood and walked out of the room to look around for the source of the noise.

"Go find him, Peter." Peter mumbled quietly to himself.

----

The scream died away and she landed against a wall and fell onto the pavement in a heap.  
Ellen could have sworn her brains were rattling around inside her head as she sat there until a hand gripped her arm and pulled her to her feet.  
"Are you okay?"

Ellen started as she looked up at the large dark skinned man who looked at her only with concern on his face. She shook her head in response.  
"Drinking?" he said in a deep voice.  
"No, no. I'm fine, thank you for your help." She said.

He lifted his hands uncertainly from her, "You sure?"  
"Yeah, thank you." She said, looking him in his face though her head felt as though it was going to fall off.  
He nodded, let her go and walked away, blending into the crowd of people on the street.

Ellen leaned against the wall of a building and squeezed her eyes shut to push away the dizziness. It didn't seem to help a lot but she opened them again and started walking. She was in the city still, but Peter was nowhere to be found which made her feel suddenly very vulnerable.  
She turned a corner keeping her head down and pinching the bridge of her nose and then saw nothing but blinding white light and a pain in her side.

They whacked into each other hard, spinning Ellen about on her feet until she nearly fell again. She managed to regain her balance and looked up at what she ran into.  
He was placing his glasses back on his nose and he blinked uncertainly at her through them. "Are you alright?" she was asked for the second time that day as he approached her timidly, his arms stiffly at his sides.

Ellen put a hand to her head and saw the blood on her palm from scraping the pavement with it when she had fallen the first time. She nodded in answer anyway, though it was obvious to anyone with eyes that she wasn't.  
The young man hesitated in touching her and thrust his hands in the pockets of his slacks.  
"I'm – I don't know where I am." She said, her eyes searching around frantically until he stood directly in front of her and she could only focus on him.

He was an odd sort, wearing a collared button down underneath a sweater vest, his hair combed and parted strictly. He hunched his shoulders in attempt to hide his awkward height, but he stayed with her.  
"I know this will sound crazy but could you tell me the date today?" Ellen said.  
He shivered at her pleading eyes and obliged immediately, "It's April 25th…2006." He said.

Ellen's eyes widened and she put her hands to her mouth. She was in the past again and Peter was nowhere to be found to get her out of it.  
He saw her hands start to shake and stammered in an attempt to comfort her, "It's okay – " he said awkwardly.

"He's left me! Left me here!" she said, her voice rising in volume.  
People were starting to notice and it made him feel uneasy, being picked out of a crowd even though he wasn't the one who was raving at the moment.  
"Calm down, just – just for a second." He said. "I can try to help you."

"No, no one can help – "Ellen bit her lip and stared through the people passing by.  
"Please," he begged her. "Tell me who you are."

"Ellen." She said softly, her eyes resting in front of her at the pattern on his sweater.  
"You're alright, Ellen." He said kindly.

"He's gone…" she muttered.  
"But I'm here." He replied, offering her his hand.

Ellen did her best to control her breathing and looked up at him. His eyes were a deep brown beneath his glasses and they looked honestly at her. She took his hand and leaned against him. "I don't even know you." She said.  
"My name is Gabriel." He looked down at her and gave her a tight lipped smile.


	4. Chapter 4

Back into the city in a split second, Peter hoofed it several blocks until he stopped to catch his breath in the square of a large office building. He hurried in and nearly accosted the front receptionist who looked at him nervously as he moved quickly up to her desk.  
Peter leaned on the desk taking sharp and heavy breaths, "Hiro – Naka – Mura." He said in between breaths.

"Do you have an appointment?"  
Peter shook his head and swallowed, "Tell him Peter Petrelli is here. It's very important."

She stared at him for a moment longer before dialing an extension on her phone and muttering quietly into her head set as though Peter couldn't hear every single word on both ends of the conversation.  
She met his eyes again, "He will see you. Follow me." She stood and led him through the security check points deeper into the office.  
After passing maze after maze of cubicles they reached a large wooden door to a corner office. The receptionist knocked lightly and opened the door.

"Peter!" said an excited voice. Hiro stood from behind his desk and walked to the door, taking Peter's hand and shaking it madly, "I thought you would be more interested in watching the election." He said, pulling him into the office with him.  
"Thank you, Jackie." He bowed his receptionist out of the room. She smiled at him before closing the door.  
Peter jerked around and looked at the closed door for a moment before turning back to Hiro.

"Please, take a seat my friend." Hiro said moving back behind his desk and sitting down. He eyed Peter for a moment in the silence that followed. Peter's hair was disheveled and his eyes were tired. He looked as though he hadn't slept in days.

"You look horrible." He said and looked closer.  
"It's been a busy day," Peter said as he took a gander around the office and Hiro's expensive looking suit. "I didn't think you were one for all this corporate stuff." He said.  
"I am not." Hiro quickly dismissed the subject of conversation and leaned onto his desk, his eyes squinting at Peter until Peter feared that they might disappear into his face.

"When have you come from?" Hiro demanded.  
Peter raised his eyebrows slowly in impressed surprise, "How could you tell?"

"People have a connection with each other in their own time – a kind of dimensional thread that no one seems to notice. They may sense something is out of place, but that is all." Hiro spoke as though he were teaching a high school science class. "I knew you were not the Peter from my time almost from the point you came into this office."

"I need your help." Peter said.  
Hiro sat back in his hair, his eyes focused on Peter giving him his full attention.  
"Ellen and I were separated – I was pushed here by accident and I have no idea where…or when she is. She won't know who could help her no matter what time she's in."  
Hiro looked at him sharply when he mentioned Ellen's name but said nothing of her, "Locating a person in time is very difficult when you don't know when in time they are exactly. It can be dangerous. I have only just begun to realize how it is done.  
"She is from the past, isn't she?" he asked.

Peter avoided his eyes and squirmed a bit in his chair.  
"I remember, Peter. You have told me the rest since. Don't forget, this is the future to you."

Peter felt as though his brain would explode. He hated time travel. Meddling in it was worse. In a way, Sylar had been right about him.  
"You have a tie to the Ellen from your time, not the Ellen you're after. To find the one from the past will be a challenge but I will help you."  
"Thanks." Peter said quietly.

"You know her the best," Hiro stood and began pacing behind his desk as he spoke, "To find a person you have to keep your thoughts on her and only her – not only her face or appearance but the being as a whole; her thoughts and emotions, the very idea of her. It should be a little easier for you given that you can read minds and have no doubt heard her thoughts."

Peter was rather taken aback at how much more improved his English had become even since his time. He wasn't as timid about making decisions either. It was quite refreshing.  
Hiro took off his suit jacket and loosened his tie.  
"You're coming?"  
"Of course." Hiro said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, "You may need my help."

Peter stood and Hiro placed a hand on his shoulder, "Let's go my friend." He said. "Remember think only of her, the Ellen you wish to find."  
He closed his eyes and filled every corner of his mind with her; her eyes and smile; the scent of her hair; the sound of her voice and her thoughts in his head.  
She was waking up with him on the couch; running down a corridor with him at night; her face was close to him before a kiss. Her thoughts as she died entered his mind – she hadn't thought of him at all.

Hiro squeezed his eyes shut and both men left the office in a flash leaving no trace behind.

----

The street came more into focus as they walked. Ellen blinked, the day light glittering in her eyes. She was beginning to rely more on her own strength rather than Gabriel which helped to calm his nerves a little.  
But it felt good at the same time. Ellen was putting her trust in him – a man she most likely would never have taken a second glance at otherwise. He hated judging her like that but to him, she was a lovely woman and in his experience lovely women simply didn't notice him. He didn't have a choice, that's just how it had always been.  
He only wished he could help her more.

They were heading to the only place Gabriel would feel at ease with her, his workshop and home.  
Ellen stumbled inside, her head still pounding from Sylar's blast. Gabriel moved right with her, steadying her back on her feet. She grasped a chunk of his knitted vest for support, her stomach and head lurching, "I think I'd better sit down." She grunted.

Gabriel nodded and quickly shut the door behind them. Placing a hesitant hand along her back and the other on her arm, he steered her through the shop to a door at the back.  
Ellen glanced lazily at the shop as they passed. Along the walls hung dozens of clocks of various sizes and styles. There was a little work table behind the counter at the front. She saw a magnifying lamp and small mechanical parts scattered on the table top.

Gabriel opened the door and guided her inside to an old recliner, easing her into it before he went back to shut the door. He squatted down in front of her, his face a frown of concern, "Better?" he said.  
"Yes." Ellen sat back into the soft cushion, "I think I just need to be still for a while."

They both saw each other then, getting their first decent looks at one another. Gabriel's eyes moved over her face piece by piece, section by section. Her hair was falling out of the twist she had it in and the front was draping loosely around her face. Her eyes had been the first thing he noticed and they looked even brighter when she was indoors.

She noticed him watching her and smiled, a little embarrassed, "You must think I'm absolutely crazy."  
Gabriel shook his head and noticed the blood still on her hands. Part of it had dried and caked onto her palms, "We should probably take care of that." He lifted her hand lightly in his own as though it were made of glass and his clumsy fingers would break it if he wasn't too careful and he pulled her gently back to her feet.

They went into the small bathroom and he sat her down on the closed toilet seat as he searched around for some disinfectant and bandages.  
Ellen's eyes were on his back but she wasn't seeing him. Though he was very familiar to her she didn't feel the need to dwell on it. Her mind had gone blank from the moment that gentleman had first helped her up off the sidewalk and it had stayed that way. She had no ideas, no inklings as to how to get back home and it scared her.

He came back to her, his hands full and crouched down in front of her.  
Ellen extended her hand to him without any question and he started to wash the blood and dirt off in the sink before patting it dry and putting disinfectant on it.

She winced and breathed in sharply, her hand shuddering in Gabriel's care.  
"I'm sorry." Gabriel said immediately, taking his hands from her.  
"It's okay." She said, her eyes wet from the stinging disinfectant.

Gabriel carefully continued, taping a bandage over the palm of her hand. He made certain it was secure but didn't release her and held her hand for several moments before either of them noticed.  
"Oh, you've got blood on your shirt, Ellen." He said shyly, his thumb absently running back and forth over the palm of her hand.

Ellen looked down, there were spots of red on her shoulder and breast but she shook her head, "Don't worry about it." She looked at his kind face, handsome beneath the glasses and stiff hair style. "I've been enough trouble to you. I really should go." She got to her feet, slipping her hand from his.

Gabriel opened his mouth in protest but his voice didn't come until a second or two later. "You're no trouble." He said clumsily, "Stay right here," he said, "I'll be back." He strode out of the room.

Ellen tipped her head to one side in confusion, looking at the empty doorway. She started her attempt to find out where he'd gone and nearly ran into him again as he reappeared in front of her.  
"You can put this on. It's clean at least." He handed her a white long sleeved button down with a small faded diamond pattern on it.  
He was smiling helplessly at her, almost like a child who wanted so badly to help.

"You don't have to – "  
"I'll make you some tea. You shouldn't be up so soon as dizzy as you were." He said as he shut the door so she could change.

Ellen smiled and concluded that she really didn't know what to make of him. He was being very sweet in an odd sort of way as though he liked and wanted the company but didn't really know what to do with her.  
She took off her t-shirt and pulled on the on he gave her, slipping her arms into the sleeves one at a time. It fit a little snug around her chest and hips but it was decent enough and comfortable.

Her eyes fell onto her reflection in the mirror and she brought her hands up to fix her hair again so it wasn't falling out of place. There was no one else in the mirror but her. Peter. Somehow they had been separated from each other and heaven only knew where or when he was.  
Thoughts in her mind began to worry her as she wondered if he would be able to find her or if she should try and find the Peter Petrelli in the time she currently was in.  
There was also that man who was after them. She tried to think of his name, Peter had spoken it…Sylar. He frightened Ellen to no end but she believed she was safe for now and at least she wasn't alone.

Gabriel tapped lightly on the door, "Your tea is ready, Ellen." He said through the wood.  
Ellen was brought out of her thoughts at the sound of his voice and opened the door. Gabriel took her arm under her elbow and walked her back to the old recliner.

He sat her down and handed her a small cup and saucer. "Don't worry, it's herbal. I don't like getting a buzz." He said and wanted to thwack himself in the head for sounding like such an undeniably fantastic dork!  
But Ellen didn't seem to notice and smiled up at him, "Thank you." She said.  
Ugh, he felt stupid. He couldn't seem to avoid sounding stupid when he spoke to her. Dork.

Gabriel decided to be safe and stay silent for a while as he sat in front of her on his crate turned into a makeshift coffee table. The sleeves of his shirt fell over part of her hands, the shoulder seams hitting her on her upper arms but it fit her quite well. He found himself admitting that it looked much better on her than it ever could on him.  
A blush of red rose to his neck and cheeks when he heard rattling of glass from Ellen. She put the cup and saucer on the arm of the chair and folded her arms in front of her, curling her legs up underneath her as if she believed she could disappear if she made herself small enough.

"You look frightened of something…someone." Gabriel observed. "Is that why you were hurt?" he leaned forward, his curiosity getting the better of him.  
"Someone, yes." She said in a small voice. "But it is a little more complicated than that."

Gabriel said nothing, ready for her to explain but she shook her head at him.  
"You shouldn't get involved Gabriel. You have been so generous to me and I don't even know you. I should probably leave soon."  
She started picking at a thread on the cuff of her shirt.

"I could try to help you." He said sincerely.  
Ellen let out a laugh and smiled at him, "You have got to be one of the kindest people I have ever met." She saw a blush in his skin as he grinned at her, "With an honest smile." She added.  
A muffled tinkling bell brought them away from each other and Gabriel sighed. "It's the front door. Maybe a customer." He said and moved to the door. "I'll be back." He said, closing the door behind him.

It had to have been a good decade before he'd been in this place. The sounds of the clocks clicking at him caused hundreds of memories to erupt into his mind, one in particular came in very clear – when he had first met Ellen and had taken her back here to fix the heel on her shoe.

"I'll be back." Sylar heard from the back of the room and lifted his eyes slowly to the young man walking towards him, preparing himself for the shock.  
Gabriel couldn't help but notice how incredibly dark the man looked, his entire appearance seemed shadowed even in the daylight that came in through the windows.

"May I help you with something, sir?" Gabriel said, willing himself to not be intimidated by this man.  
"I am looking for a young woman, about your age." Sylar said gruffly. He didn't allow himself to have eye contact with the boy for a long period of time. "I believe she may be here."

Gabriel stiffened, and glanced back at the closed door before addressing the stranger again, "I haven't seen anyone." He said lamely.  
Sylar then looked his younger self in the eyes, those innocent, weak eyes, "I believe you have." He said.

Ellen heard Gabriel's voice and another familiar voice rumbling softly in the other room. She stood and moved to the door, pressing her ear against it and listened.  
"I assure you there's no one else here." Gabriel said, his voice wavering.  
Sylar stood to his full height, he was tired and the damned chase would end now. "I do not want to hurt you, Gabriel." He said, "But I will if you refuse to be honest with me."

Gabriel stared at him, his brow furrowed in mild shock, "How do you know my name?" he muttered.  
"You'd be surprised at what else I know about you, Gabriel Grey." Sylar moved around the counter and to the back of the room with Gabriel backing up against the door in front of him.

"Are you going to try and stop me, boy?" Sylar said.  
Gabriel slid against the door until he felt the doorknob in his hand. As fast as he could he opened the door, rushed inside and slammed it shut nearly knocking Ellen over in the process.

"It's him!" she was saying, her voice far beyond panicky. "He's found me, he's here! Gabriel, you have to go, you have to get away from him…" she continued babbling as Gabriel pressed himself against the door.  
Sylar could hear her voice in the other room. He placed his hand flat against the door's surface. The wood began to break and crackle as it grew hot from his touch.  
Gabriel leaped away from the door and pushed Ellen to the floor with him as it was blown of his hinges in a deafening shot.

Ellen screamed as they stood and she saw Sylar's face again, smiling at her.  
Sylar looked from Ellen to Gabriel, "Forgive me the lack of polite banter this time." He lifted his hand and a shot of energy blew Gabriel off his feet and into the wall. His head hung limply to one side as Sylar approached his former self, pinned to the wall.

"I'VE FORGOTTEN HOW WEAK YOU WERE." He said quietly in a gruff and inhuman voice. Gabriel's eye lids fluttered as he tried to keep his eyes open. "It is good to have a reminder of what we once were. It makes us want to improve and progress no matter what the cost. Oh no you don't – "Sylar's head snapped around and saw Ellen running through the shop to the front door. In a blink he made a telekinetic snatch at her ankle and she fell to the floor with a yelp.

He turned back to his past self and studied him for a moment longer, "There is much more in you Gabriel, but you have to forgo your sheer cowardice first."  
Sylar released Gabriel who crumpled into a heap on the floor and made no move to get up. "Weak." Sylar muttered and walked back into the shop where Ellen lay pinned to the floor boards, whimpering softly.

Sylar squatted down next to her, "At long last, my dear, we have found each other again." He placed a hand on her shoulder and they vanished in time.


	5. Chapter 5

Please, please don't let it be real! Please, please, please…  
Cold concrete met her hands and face, but Ellen would not open her eyes. She kept them tightly shut hoping that somehow she had been dreaming, that she was back in her apartment with Peter.  
The air was chilly and if she didn't move soon she believed she'd freeze to death.

Sylar waited for her to lift her head and open her lovely eyes. After several moments she shivered and raised her head.

It was real. Every bit of it. At first glance of his face she scrambled to her feet and backed away from him until she felt a hard cement wall behind her.  
Sylar made no movement against her, his hands placed calmly behind his back as he stood, his eyes taking in every inch of her trembling form. "You may have come to realize by now that I have never once physically harmed you."

Ellen was about to accuse him of the contrary until she realized that he was correct. "Why did you hurt Peter and Gabriel then?"  
"They stood in my way, bravely no doubt of course, but still in my way."  
"You didn't have to hurt them."

Sylar's eyes bore into her until she had to look away, "I do not ask for permission, Ellen." His voice rang like metal.  
He walked slowly to her, "Permission to take something so precious." He added softly. "Permission they have no right to give."  
"But you have a right to take?" Ellen snapped.  
"Would you give it willingly?"  
"Give _what_?" she said and met his eyes.  
"Yourself, of course."  
Ellen tried to avoid rolling her eyes at his purposefully vague answer.

He closed in on her, "You and I were very close once – I admit that I remember being rather taken by you. But that cannot be any longer. You see me as a villain and will never look at me as anything else. But as it is, I want you, Ellen."  
He stood in front of her and saw the panic in her eyes as she tried to disappear into the wall behind her.

Ellen could not look into his eyes any longer. She would fight him, but how long that would last she couldn't tell. Her body froze in fear and she stared at the collar of his shirt.  
"No, no my dear." he said softly, "You have my word that I will never harm you in that way."  
"I'm supposed to believe you?" Ellen said, edging slowly along the wall.  
"That does not interest me, Ellen, I assure you." He studied her fragile looking figure, hunched over and scared, refusing to look him in the eyes and felt a pang of regret. "But that does not change how I felt about you all those years ago."

His fingers graced her cheek lightly as he spoke. She could feel the roughness of his skin and turned her face away as she glanced about the room quickly – it was rather small, floor to ceiling concrete save for a door on the opposite wall.

Ellen pressed her hands flat against the wall behind her, sensing the power from the lights overhead and began to track the energy through it's wires in the walls to a power source.  
"What are you talking about? I have never met you before."

"Unfortunately, you probably won't ever again. You see, more than my want for you is my craving for the ability you have. It is incredibly special, Ellen and would come in great use for me." He saw the surprised expression on her face. "Oh yes, I know of your power very well and it's…resistant capabilities. It has fascinated me for so long and now I have it in front of me, hidden inside this – this person. If you'll only allow me to take it." His eyes flashed as he spoke as though he was looking through her.

Ellen felt the invisible force pressing her against the wall, holding on her chest so she could barely breathe.  
The power source obeyed her and the lights in the room flickered and went out, leaving the room dark as pitch.

With a shrieking yell, Ellen took the opportunity of Sylar's distraction and lunged at him with all of her weight, pushing him aside. She ran blindly through the darkness, her arms stretched out in front of her.

The sound of his stumbling feet echoed behind her when she reached the opposite wall. Her hands felt along it frantically until she touched the smooth surface of the door. Fumbling for the handle, Ellen half expected it to be locked but it gave way under her pressure and she wrenched it open.

She turned, staring into the darkness and released a blast of electric current into the room, spreading into every corner, lighting it up brightly before closing the door. Sylar bellowed inside the room as he was hit by it.  
Sylar attempted to restore the power in the room using his own but nothing responded. She had literally cut it off completely.

The corridor was narrow and colder than the room she had been in. Ellen ran through the complete blackness as fast as her tired legs allowed, the sound of her feet patting on the floor and her sharp breaths floating through the thick air.

There were no windows, no openings of any kind. But the darkness pressed in on her so hard that she wouldn't have been able to see anything even if she tried. But she kept going, her eyes trying to blink away the thick shadow away from her until the floor became uneven beneath her and she tripped, falling forward, her hands slapping onto a higher surface.  
Ellen's fingers moved around, feeling the beginnings and ends of the surface. Stairs.

She began to pound her way up when she noticed something in the darkness. Two pinpricks of light shone a short distance away glowing gold at her. It was so bright, like two stars in a blackened night sky. She slowed her pace and stared at it.  
A soft sigh drifted through the air and surrounded her and the two lights moved closer when she heard the soft, silky voice, "I am losing my patience, Ellen."

The spots of light were right on top of her and she could see black spots in the middle of them. They winked off and on again and again every few seconds and the horror of what they were struck her.  
Eyes.

Ellen turned on her heel and ran full force in the other direction, her heart pounding and her head aching. It was the worst nightmare anyone could have dreamed up and she was living in it.  
"I can still see you, Ellen." His voice rang after her in the corridor.

Ellen slid her hands along the walls as she ran, passing the door she had come out of and stopped dead in her tracks.  
The eyes were in front of her again until she could hear him breathing. His lashes and the skin around his eyes reflected in the light that came from him. They focused on her, "This could become rather tiring for you." He said.

She felt a touch along her forehead at her hairline and down to the side of her face, moving to her jaw and neck. Though she knew who he was and what he was after she felt oddly comforted.  
He heard her breathing slow and smiled to himself, "Am I less of a threat to you when you are unable to see me? Perhaps the darkness will make all of this easier for both of us. I can see either way."

"Just kill me, then." She whispered.  
"If only it were that simple." He said, his fingers running down her neck to her collarbone. She was so warm still, even in that cold place.  
Ellen looked at the glowing eyes and closed her hands into fists at her sides. "So murder is simple to you, is it?" she said.  
"Of course not. But it is what must be done."

Ellen's fists began to glow and she raised them up and opened her hands in his face, blinding him with the white light.  
Sylar screamed and covered his face. Even with his eyes closed all he could see was the bright light.  
Ellen turned and ran, a new burst of energy flowing through her. She didn't bother trying to figure out where she was going, as long as it was away from him.

She had not gotten far when Sylar began to recover, he heard her heart beat several meters down and reached out a hand. Ellen felt the control over her body and let out a muffled scream as it pushed her to the floor, her head cracking against the concrete.  
Ellen's eyes fluttered and streamed from the pain as she felt a warm trickling from her forehead and over her eyebrow.

Sylar strode purposefully towards her, yanking her up by the arm and dragged her back down the corridor and into the room. He threw her in and she fell hard on her side. But she didn't bother to stand this time. Sylar could see her curling up in the dark room and heard her whimpering, tears falling from her eyes and onto the floor.

He crouched down next to her, knowing she could sense him there and looked at her coldly. "Simply killing you would be of no benefit to anyone, Ellen. In order to see how you work, your brain must not be dead by the time I get to it."  
Ellen could barely believe what he was saying beyond the screaming pain she was feeling. Brain? How could he possibly…?

"Therein lies my dilemma, you see?" he continued as though he was teaching a class, "The usual method I have always used simply does not work on you. It is incredibly frustrating."

Ellen tried to wipe the blood out of her eye but remained lying very still, hoping he'd stop this sickening talk soon.

"I need more time." He said, his face close to hers.  
She sniffed and cried, but didn't respond, tucking her head in her folded arms as she lay on the floor, wishing, hoping – praying that this wasn't happening.


	6. Chapter 6

Ellen lifted her head to the sound of birds outside. She blinked in the sunlight streaming in from a wide bay window. There was warm carpet beneath her, she stroked it with her hands before raising her head to see where she was.

It was a beautiful spring day. She could see blossoms on the tree in the yard outside. The air smelled fresh and clean.  
She wanted to laugh out loud. It had been a dream, a horrible and glorious nightmare that she was able to wake from. She sat up, her head feeling groggy and sensitive as she noticed she was still wearing Gabriel's shirt he had given her. There were spots of blood on the sleeve.

"Ellen? Here you are!" a very familiar and very welcome voice spoke as he entered the room.  
Ellen saw Peter coming towards her and he flopped himself next to her on the floor. She looked as though she wanted to tackle and kiss him right then, she was so grateful to see him.  
"Peter!" she said, and nearly knocked him over with a hug, holding him tightly to her. "I had the most awful dream but…how did I get here?"

Peter smiled and laughed as he stroked her hair. "I found you, scared to death but alive. But it doesn't matter, you're here with me."  
Ellen heard a tone in his voice that didn't seem right to her. It was Peter's voice but it seemed strange to her. She pulled away from him and looked him in the eyes.

"How do you feel?" Peter said.  
"I feel so much better, now that you're here." She dismissed her intuition and smiled.  
"Relaxed?"  
"…yes."

"Good."  
Peter's eyes hardened and he lifted a hand to her, his finger pointed at her forehead. The invisible cut he released was deflected by her, a field of energy rippling across her frightened eyes, and bounced across the room, cutting deep gash into the wall behind Peter.

The room changed, the coldness grew all around her and she felt the concrete beneath her. Sylar's face came into focus in front of her, it was disappointed.

Ellen felt herself in a corner so she couldn't back away. Her hand moved to her forehead. There wasn't a mark on her skin and instead of the bloody gash she expected to feel she felt a soft piece of fabric in its place. She looked up at the far wall and saw a cut along it from Sylar's attempt.

Sylar let a long breath slip past his lips. "I'm sorry to have done that to you."  
"No you're not." Ellen said, pushing herself further into the corner.  
"Whether you believe me or not is no concern of mine. I learned long ago that I could never lie to you without much difficulty."  
"You seem to have overcome that."

Sylar didn't answer and got to his feet. "Catching you off guard does not seem to be the answer." He said. "I would have preferred that. It would have been the easiest way."

"You would have me die believing Peter had killed me? Don't sell yourself short, you can lie very well to anyone I think…what was it you called yourself? Sylar?"  
Sylar felt a shiver down his spine at hearing her speak his chosen name. In her voice it carried a ring as loud as a church bell and ten times as harsh.

Ellen saw the discomfort on his face and continued, "If you are going to kill me, Sylar, I would prefer it if you tried doing it quickly."  
Sylar's eyes flashed dangerously at her but his expression remained neutral, "As you wish, Ellen. But I cannot make any promises."  
They stared at each other for a long minute before Sylar broke his contact and moved away.

Ellen saw a crate with a tray of food sitting on it next to the wall to her left.  
"You need to keep up your strength." He said simply as he noticed where she was looking.  
"Why, if you're just going to kill me later?"

Sylar moved to the door, which now had a strong metal lock on it, "A starved brain is almost as useless as a dead one." He said and turned to face her before he left. "I would tell you to give in and eat now but it wouldn't matter. I know you, Ellen. But you'll give in eventually. I can hear your stomach from a hundred meters away." He said before turning his back on her and shutting the door.  
Ellen heard the locks snapping into place and she curled up in her corner, finally noticing that he somehow had gotten the lights to come back on.

She eyed the food on the tray and knew Sylar had been correct. She was starving. It had been ages since she'd eaten anything, traveling back and forth and back and forth through time so much she realized that she didn't even know how much time had passed for her.

Her head ached so badly and her entire left side hurt from her second push to the floor. She shivered, the cool air getting to her. There were no windows anywhere as she had noticed before. Perhaps they were underground somewhere. But where? And more importantly, when?

Ellen looked at the food again and her stomach lurched. She got slowly and painfully to her feet and shuffled over to the crate.  
The tray held a cup of hot tea and simple sandwich. She sat down next to it and picked up a half of the sandwich. The meat looked a little gray and the bread was stale but she bit off a piece and chewed with satisfaction. It tasted marvelous for a simple turkey-like sandwich. Taking a sip of the tea, she welcomed the heat of it as it moved inside her, warming her to the tips of her fingers.  
The food was gone within the next few minutes and she found herself alone again only with her terrified thoughts of what would become of her.

She wished for a piece of paper at least so she could write something, anything to those she cared for. For a reason she couldn't decipher though, she knew that any message she wrote would not get to anyone from where she was.

Drowsiness hit her gently, she tucked her knees up to her chest and rested her head against the wall as her heavy eyes closed and she fell asleep almost instantly.

----

Peter was in front of her, standing there, staring at her but she couldn't get to him. Restraints that she couldn't see were keeping her tethered to the spot she was in. He made no move to help her as she fought and screamed to be freed until his form faded from her sight, leaving her alone in a pitch blackness…

Her eyes opened slowly, the feeling she was being watched was overwhelming and was answered when she saw him.  
Sylar sat on the floor against the opposite wall, his eyes upon her unblinkingly. His hands were folded neatly in his lap and he tilted his head slightly to one side as he saw her waking up, "Are you feeling better?"  
"Yes." Ellen had to stop herself from adding "thank you" to her statement.

"Excellent." Sylar got to his feet in one smooth movement and strode over to her. He sat down next to her, ignoring her body shrinking away from him and looked into her eyes. The pupils were dilated just slightly as he'd expected.

"You don't feel a lot, do you?" he said casually.  
Ellen considered the question curiously, "Um, no actually. My arms and legs feel really heavy."  
Sylar nodded once and looked at her, "It's something an old friend used on me many years ago. I believe he called it a curare. It has some very interesting paralytic effects. But not to worry, it won't harm you."

Ellen shuddered at the expression on his face. Pure pleasure as he looked at her. There was no way she could fight. Her control of her body had gone and her head felt so heavy.

"You should be very impressed with me." He said.  
"Because you managed to drug an unarmed woman? Oh, congratulations!" she said sluggishly.

"No, because any type of curare is difficult to come by these days as it is incredibly illegal." He saw the confusion on her face, "Of course, you aren't even aware of where you are." He considered for a moment, "To be fair to you, I'll give you a bit of a summary.  
"When a certain professor of genetics made the fact public that humans were evolving, discovering different abilities they had not been aware of before due to a certain genetic coding the entire world split itself in two. My cause was lost in the shuffle as the fear of ordinary humans over powered the calls for peace and useless negotiation.  
"You are in my time, Ellen, your future and all we know now is war. Factions of humans with the genetic sequences you and I possess are battling against the rest of the world who are willing to fight leaving the rest of us with the mess in between.  
"Years ago, all types of curare were made strictly illegal because it does not allow us to control our abilities, leaving us defenseless.  
"So believe me when I tell you that when I do kill you, Ellen I will be doing you a favor. You cannot go back and you could not live in this time."

Ellen felt the crashing of hopelessness surround her, caving in on her as he spoke. She wanted to lash out at him, attempt to escape again and risk it on her own in his world, but she felt so weak that she could not even bother to stand.

Sylar was watching her, "Don't be sad, my dear." He said gently as he knelt in front of her. "It will do no good to drag this out any longer." He pointed his finger at her again. "I am glad to have seen you again for what it's worth."

Ellen felt a rage inside of her but she could not act on it. She saw the rippling waves of her protective energy again and Sylar pressed in closer.  
The pain was incredible and hit her hard when he finally cut through. She released a shrieking scream but he did not appear to hear it and kept going. The pain stopped and she opened her eyes, seeing the frustration on his face and the cut being deflected again.

Sylar growled in his throat and tried again, pushing harder and harder until he was able to punch through leaving an incomplete cut along her forehead.

Ellen screamed and tried to fight but she could barely move – feeling the blood begin to seep down her face when he broke through her defenses once again.


	7. Chapter 7

_This isn't right._ Peter heard Hiro's thoughts when they appeared in an entrance way to a large room.

"Mr. Petrelli, can you hear me?" a woman's voice sounded from inside the room.  
A large orange colored blast lit up the room, blinding Peter and Hiro. They watched a body being flung into the entry way they stood in and Peter put a hand on Hiro's arm, making them invisible.  
He then realized exactly where they were.

Peter saw his past self climb back to his feet, glance behind him as though he'd seen something, and then move quickly back into the room.

"You're right, this isn't where we're supposed to be." Peter said as another blast of energy shot about the room. He could hear Ellen's voice talking to Nathan and then Claire's as well. They were all in there, Ellen's fate about to be sealed.

"Let's get out of here then." Hiro looked a little uneasy and gripped the handle of his katana that hang about his waist.  
"Not yet." Peter let go of Hiro and strode into the room.  
"Peter! What are you doing?!" Hiro ran after him.

It was just as he remembered, as he had seen a dozen times before when he had tried to save her. He saw Nathan taking care of Claire and Ellen, trying to get them out of the room. But most of all he could hear the thoughts of his enemy, the man who killed Ellen.

_If I am to lose today, I will make him lose as well._ A piece of the broken chair on the floor was lifted into the air under Sylar's power.  
_I will take her away from him just as – holy shit!_  
The piece of wood shattered into hundreds of pieces in mid air from his shock.

The Peter of that time saw Sylar looking past him. He looked over at Nathan, Claire, and Ellen and they all were staring at a point behind him. He turned around and felt a shift in his insides as he stare at his future self, his mouth hanging open.

Hiro ran into the room and stood next to Peter. "Oh no." he muttered, seeing both Peter's staring at each other as though they were reflected in a mirror.

"Peter?" Ellen spoke timidly.  
Both Peter's looked at her but the present one turned back to his future self looking disbelievingly at him. "What the hell…?"

Sylar was the first to recover from the shock, but the Peter from the future could hear his thoughts through all of the others that were in the room and moved first before Sylar could send a hit. He pushed with all of the power he had and shoved Sylar off his feet into the wall in Claire's bedroom.

"Nathan!" he bellowed as his past self moved against Sylar again, realizing that their goals were the same.  
Nathan's eyes rested on him, "Peter, how - ?"  
"Just get them out of here!" he said pointing at Ellen and Claire who were too shocked for words.

Nathan nodded, taking an arm of both the girls and pulling them towards the fire escape window.   
Peter made certain that they were leaving safely, climbing down the fire escape steps and charged into Claire's bedroom where the battle was continuing.

"Peter! You can't do this!" Hiro ran after him, his sword slapping the side of his thigh.  
Future Peter used Sylar's own method against him and pointed a slicing cut across his enemy's chest. It bled madly and couldn't be stopped. Sylar's eyes switched between both Peter's and Hiro for several seconds as he clutched painfully at his chest, pressing his hands over his injury.

_It will always take two of you to defeat me, Peter._  
Realizing this was a losing situation with the three of them, Sylar flung his body out the window, shattering the glass and lifted himself in the air before hitting the ground. It took all of his focus and energy through the pain in his chest but he kept going and left the buildings on the street below.

Peter from the present time turned and still couldn't find words to address his future self and Hiro. But he wasn't given the chance.  
Future Peter closed his eyes, placed a hand on Hiro's shoulder and they left the room in an instant, leaving his past self alone, thoroughly confused and questioning his own sanity.

----

The piercing scream met them from a short distance away didn't allow them time to think.  
"Ellen." Peter breathed and started down the corridor they found themselves in but Hiro snatched him by the arm and held him back.  
"Wait, Peter." He said, looking around. "We're in the future…several years." He said thoughtfully, "How could she have gotten here, even by accident?"

Another scream sounded down the corridor and Peter looked past Hiro down the hallway, "There's no time. You need to trust me, Hiro."  
Hiro didn't think twice about it and bowed his head slightly, "Very well, my friend." He clapped Peter on the shoulder before they bolted down the corridor until they saw a single windowless door.

Both men stepped closer to it, Peter pressing his ear to the door and listening. There were two heart beats in the room. Both were racing and one was becoming irregular.  
Peter ripped the door open, breaking it off its hinges and snapping the locks. He stormed into the room, throwing it aside.

Hiro came in behind him and was the first to look to the side wall. A tall man was crouched on the floor hunching over something, his back to them. A whimper of a woman came from in front of the man but he couldn't find its source until he saw the man stand up to his full height and face them.  
Hiro had to stifle a gasp of shock. The man seemed to embody darkness, pushing away any light that was in the room but Hiro knew him almost instantly.

Ellen's face was red with her own blood but she was still alive, her breathing ragged and her voice lost. Her upper body slid against the wall and slumped to the floor when Sylar had released her.  
Peter's eyes narrowed into slits at Sylar, his anger at its boiling point as he looked at poor Ellen.

Hiro moved to help her but Sylar stepped in front of her, blocking his path, "I remember you." He said to Hiro, his eyes boring into him, "To this day I believe it was you that begged and screamed the most before you died."  
Peter put a hand on Hiro's shoulder, "He's lying."

Sylar's hands clenched into fists as his eyes rested on Peter, "So you're a psychic now, Peter? I suppose we should stop the conversation now if that is the case."  
He raised his hand and lifted Hiro off his feet, pushing him away from them but Hiro had been prepared. He squeezed his eyes shut and vanished in midair.

Sylar whirled around and Hiro was behind him as though he'd been there the entire time, smiling at his old enemy. "I see you haven't gotten the hang of it yet, though. It takes quite a bit of practice."  
Sylar's eyes flashed angrily and he stalked towards Hiro, his feet barely touching the floor when Hiro disappeared again just before he could reach him. Sylar pivoted on his heel and was met with Peter who didn't bother giving him the chances Hiro had and blew him to the far side of the room with a burst of light and energy.  
Without allowing Sylar to get to his feet, Peter hit him again with a flash of blinding fire.

Hiro had reappeared next to Ellen and squatted down next to her. Her eyes were barely open, the cuts on her head still bleeding profusely. He removed his neck tie and pressed the fabric to her forehead to stop the bleeding. Lifting her up, he saw her eyes blink open at him.  
"Hiro? Are you real?" she said sluggishly and touched her fingers to his face in order to answer her question.  
"Yes, Ellen. Can you stand?" Hiro looked to the other side of the room.

Sylar bled from his nose and a gash along his eyebrow but he smiled at Peter, getting to his feet again, "You know very well that she dies anyway." He lunged at Peter releasing a solid shockwave that forced its way across the room, knocking Peter off his feet.

Hiro held Ellen to him to protect her but the force was too strong and it pushed them away from each other. Ellen landed limply on the floor again but managed to crane her neck and look up.   
Peter saw her eyes fully open and looking at him as he hit the floor. For a small moment he saw her smile slightly at him before Sylar grabbed him off the floor by the scruff of his neck and tossed him through the air but Peter concentrated and stopped himself.

He hovered slightly above them, his eyes on Sylar, "I won't let you hurt her anymore. Hiro, get her out of here!"  
Peter closed his eyes, his skin tingling and stinging all over as it brightened in color. A nuclear fire manifested itself from his fingertips and blasted out from his hands violently.

Sylar laughed, "Do you believe I'd allow you to do that?" He lifted himself off the floor and started towards Peter but didn't get far.  
Hiro appeared in front of him, his sword drawn and made a slice above his head at Sylar. Sylar fell to the floor and landed on his knees, a deep bloody slice across his middle. Hiro lifted his sword again and with a yell of anger ran it through Sylar's chest and pulled it out instantly.  
Sylar collapsed to the floor, blood streaming from his body.

Hiro glanced up at Peter whose power was building by the second, "Go! You and Ellen, now! I am going to finish this." He said, staring at Sylar's body as the life was draining from it.  
Hiro lifted Ellen off the floor, put his arms around her and shut his eyes.

Peter made certain they had left and looked at Sylar who still seemed to be attempting to fight, his arms twitching along the floor.  
Peter lowered himself down, his eyes glowing a fiery orange and his skin a mix of scarlet and gold as he approached Sylar.  
The deep brown eyes that had haunted him so many times looked up at him, "You will change nothing, Peter." Sylar choked. "She will die."  
Peter's tears melted into steam when they touched his face. "So will you." He said.

He stretched out his hands to his sides and let go.  
Toxic fire rang through the room in an instant, blowing through the doorway and rolling into the corridor like a stampede of wild horses, leaving a roar of power and rage in its wake.


	8. Chapter 8

"I still can't believe it was him after so long." Claire's voice trembled as she spoke of Sylar. She put her hand to the bandage on her friend's forehead.  
She sat next to the bed that held a sleeping Ellen in a private hospital room, the heart monitor steadily beeping next to her.

Hiro, standing next to her, put his hand on her shoulder, "After gaining my ability he must have soon realized the opportunities it provided him."  
Claire looked up at him, "Are you worried?"  
Hiro thought for a moment and shrugged, "Not really. I'm aware of it now and the future is already changing its path. I can sense it somehow."

The door opened and Nathan came in quietly. He walked around the bed to Claire and bent down to kiss her on her head. "She's going to be fine. But she's gone through quite an ordeal – "  
"One that should never have taken place." Hiro said firmly.  
"That cannot be avoided now. It is done." Nathan sighed and rubbed is tired eyes. "She'll have to deal with it as best she can."

"In her proper time." Hiro said and Nathan nodded in agreement.  
"Wouldn't that be dangerous, knowing what she knows?" Claire said.  
Nathan sat pulled a chair up next to her and sat down, "Three months hardly makes a difference. She can go back to her life."

"Whatever life she would have after this." Claire muttered.  
Ellen had actually survived multiple attacks from Sylar. Somehow Claire thought that more difficult to deal with than being killed. She sat quietly, looking at Ellen – so pale and sad – when an idea struck her.  
"What if she wasn't _able_ to remember?" Claire eyed Nathan who looked questioningly at her until he slowly realized what she was meaning.  
"That may be best for her." he said.  
"What would?" Hiro was looking between the both of them.

"No way!" a voice hissed.  
Peter materialized in the corner of the room having heard the entire conversation.  
"I wondered when you'd finally show up." Hiro said. "I was beginning to think you were stuck there."

Peter's eyes bore into Nathan, "You can't erase her memory of this. Don't you see? Everything would go back as it was and she'd die all over again! This way she already knows who he is. She knows me…"

Both Claire and Nathan had stood at Peter's appearance but Hiro got to him first and put his hand on his shoulder, "Look at me, Peter." He said quietly.

Peter looked at him.  
"You are my friend, my brother and I will always help you when you ask me to. Know that. But before you decide Ellen's fate for her, I want you to consider your motivations first. Do you want this for her…or for you?"

Peter grumbled and pursed his lips together in defeat. Hiro was absolutely right and there was no denying it. "But – but I love her." he said softly, looking at Ellen asleep on the bed.  
Hiro squeezed his friend's shoulder, "I know, I know you do. Because of that you should let her go. Allow her to live her life happily." He gave him a small smile, "The future is not set, Peter. It's not possible to predict. This is something I know a little bit about."

"I can't save her." he said sadly.  
"You already have." Claire said as she held Ellen's hand that rested above the blankets.  
"Would you have her live a frightened life with the dark memories she holds? She's seen the future, Peter. We will never know how much Sylar told her." Nathan said. "She still can have a little peace."

Peter moved to the bed and looked down at Ellen. Her face was peaceful and pale as porcelain. He brushed his finger against her cheek and bent down, kissing softly on the lips.  
"I will take her back after it's done." Peter said. "But we must tell her what you intend to do. She has a right to know."  
Nathan nodded and left the room as Claire stood next to Peter and kissed him on the cheek. "You're saving her again, you know."

----

Late that night Peter was stretched out in the uncomfortable hospital chair dozing when he heard the door open. Nathan entered silently, followed by a tall man with chocolate colored skin and deep, intense eyes.  
His steps were precise and measured as he walked in, his eyes falling immediately upon Ellen. Peter glared at him suspiciously when a soft sigh came from the bed next to him.

Ellen breathed deeply, raising her hand and letting it fall again but Peter caught it I his own. She looked around and smiled as she looked down. Claire was fast asleep, her head resting on Ellen's lap in a silky mass of blonde hair, their hands still locked together.  
Then she saw Peter and smiled broadly at him, "You look tired." She spoke in a raspy voice. "Where are we?"

Peter smiled, clasping both hands over her own as he choked on his words, his emotions making it too difficult for him to speak. He cleared his throat and spoke shakily to her of where she was and where she would be going.  
Ellen's face remained calm when he explained that her memory would be erased and that there was the likely risk that she would be killed in the future by the younger version of the man who had just attempted to do so.

"I won't remember anything?"  
"It will be as though your life had never been interrupted." Nathan said.  
Ellen thought for a moment and turned to Peter, "I'll forget you." She said as the realization came to her.

"We meet later on, though." Peter said but couldn't help the stab of pain he felt at her words. She would forget him.  
Ellen saw the deep brown eyes in front of her, they seemed to glow red as he used his powers against her. The echo of the pain in her mind still caused her to wince. 

She nodded her consent and Peter stood, the Haitian taking his place next to the bed.  
"Will I feel anything?" Ellen asked him.  
He shook his head, "It is painless. You will only go back to sleep."  
"Peter." She said and Peter immediately came back to the bedside. "I'll see you later, Peter." She smiled despite the tears in her eyes and squeezed his hand.  
"I'll see you." He muttered.

The Haitian leaned over Ellen, cupping his hand over her eyes, placing his thumb and forefinger on her temples. Ellen breathed calmly, feeling drowsy again and drifted into a dreamless sleep as her recent memories left her.

Hiro stood next to Peter against the wall and watched with him as Ellen went back to sleep.  
"Do you believe he is really gone now?" Hiro asked him quietly.  
"I don't know." Peter said, "The one we know is still here but as for the future Sylar…I can't tell you for certain."  
"He has escaped before." Hiro said.  
"Yes, he has. But even if he was able to before I did anything, I doubt he would have lasted long wherever he went. He was barely alive after you left. Still determined to win, though."

Hiro nodded but Peter could hear his doubting thoughts about their relentless and stubbornly surviving enemy. Peter shared the same thoughts and began wondering when their next encounter would be when Claire had woken and approached them.  
"It was good to see her again." She said, resting her head on Peter's shoulder. "I've missed her.

As promised, Peter brought her into her bedroom in her own time and laid her down on the bed.  
Ellen slept on, her wounds completely healed as though nothing had happened after a few days in the hospital room.

Peter stare at her sleeping form as Hiro entered and stood next to him.  
"You didn't trust me?"  
"Not really, no." Hiro replied. "A man in love is unpredictable. He's bound to do irrational things and needs looking after."  
"I'm alright." Peter said.  
"You will be, Peter."  
After another moment Hiro sighed, "I must leave you now, I'm afraid. I belong elsewhere." He looked thoughtful for a moment, "I suppose I can now discuss this with the Peter I know."  
"I guess so." Peter mumbled, his eyes never leaving Ellen.

Hiro saw how crushed he looked and considered some careful words of comfort he'd be allowed to say. "Do not worry too much, Peter. I believe she will be alright."  
"For a while anyway." Peter said bitterly.

Hiro was about to say more but thought the better of it, "Goodbye then, my friend." He said.  
Peter finally looked away from Ellen and at his loyal friend, "Thanks, Hiro. Thanks…for everything." He smiled slightly as Hiro bowed to him.

Hiro started out of the room but Peter turned to him, "By the way," he said and Hiro met his eyes once again, "That secretary of yours…what's her name?"  
"Jackie?" Hiro furrowed his brow curiously.  
"Yeah." A smile crossed his tired features, "She's got a…thing for you. Stay on your toes." Peter tapped his forefinger to his temple with a knowing look before turning his back on a baffled looking Hiro.

They were alone after another second, Peter back at the side of her bed, watching the calm breathing of a woman who now knew nothing of him.  
He lowered himself onto the bed and curled up next to her, kissing her hair and putting his arm around her. Ellen smiled in her sleep and placed her hand over his.  
"Just until you wake up." He said softly, "I promise.

Thunder rumbled across the sky, jerking her awake. She sighed and closed her eyes as the feeling and memory of someone with her in the room overwhelmed her. Ellen touched a hand to her face in a memory that no longer existed and ran a finger along her forehead as she turned over, surprised at her disappointment that no one was there next to her.  
She could have sworn there was or had been someone there, someone she knew.

The noise of the rain on the windows strengthened with the storm outside and she sat up, realizing she was still dressed.  
But she wouldn't be distracted from the odd, hollow feeling she was experiencing. Ellen blinked her eyes and rubbed them in attempt to clear her thoughts. They were so scattered and discombobulated with flashes of images she couldn't recall and fragments of voices and words that were unfamiliar.  
_Maybe I had a drink at the club last night – but I can't remember…anything._

There were echoes of memory she was hearing but couldn't make out though Peter was able to. They were memories of him. He watched her get off the bed slowly and make her way to the bathroom.  
Peter stood alone in her room wanting to punch a wall in frustration. He no longer existed to her. She would be dead three months from now and he could do nothing to prevent it.

The shower in the bathroom started and he moved to the door, pressing his hands flat against it and resting his forehead on the wood. "Goodbye, Ellen." He whispered.


	9. Chapter 9

Time had flown by. She was certain she had left with enough time to spare but according to her watch she was late – again. Ellen started to run down the street, her feet tramping hard on the pavement, her breath catching harshly in her chest as she gulped in the air. She reached the intersection of 5th and Jefferson and stopped on the corner to catch her breath completely unaware of the eyes watching her.

Peter watched the scene unfold in front of him as he had pictured it over and over again in his mind. Her shoe snapped on the curb and Sylar was there – out of nowhere – to catch her. He saw her smile up at him, oblivious to what he really was, and he helped her back onto the sidewalk.

Peter found that he understood a small part of what she had done to Sylar. Here was a person who knew nothing of his past or what he planned for the future. All she saw was a gentleman helping her when she was in need of it.  
Ellen leaned on Sylar as he examined her shoe, his thoughts confusing and continually contradicting themselves as Peter listened.

"I don't want to be any trouble to you – "  
Peter heard the innocent exchange between them until they limped off together down the street, Sylar holding her close to him as though he actually cared for her well being.

Claire would have yelled madly at him if she knew he was there. She would say he was torturing himself which would not be an entirely inaccurate assumption. But he had to see. He _had_ to know if things would go back the way they were. Despite all he'd done he watched helplessly as Ellen's fate unraveled itself all over again.  
Peter felt he couldn't take much more and began to realize how tired he was. He hadn't slept for days at least though no actual time had passed for him.

They had gone around the corner at the far end of the street and Peter stared after them, the need to talk to Claire entering his mind. Claire was the only other person he could share things with that he could not share with Nathan. She wasn't judgmental and only gave her opinion which almost always helped Peter to see things in an entirely different way. Claire was the only one he could really talk to; who he could get a female perspective on things from until he met Ellen.

With Ellen it was different, though. He'd only known her a short time but from the moment he first saw her and caught the gaze of those unnaturally bright eyes he believed he could tell her absolutely anything.  
But she was gone and Claire would have been right, he was torturing himself by going back to see her.

Peter found himself back in his own bedroom. The room was dark and matched the black sky outside. He looked at the digital clock on the nightstand, it read 1:25am – just a few hours after he'd left to see Ellen sing and thought of the plan to save her.

His muscles protested as he stood there, aching and in need of a long rest. Peter groaned and took off his shirt before falling into bed. His thoughts were irrational and stupid. They floated away the moment he believed he could focus on one as his body relaxed and he fell asleep.  
Perhaps tomorrow he would feel better.

----

Daylight filtered palely into the room. The muffled sounds of bird song came from outside and woke his ears to the sound.  
His body felt like lead, sinking deeper into the mattress as he grunted and turned over. Peter's sharp hearing was quite awake though and he heard the door click open as quietly as possible and snapped shut again.

Peter felt a presence in the room and then the pressure of someone sitting next to him on the bed but he was so groggy he didn't really believe anyone was actually in the room with him. His mother never entered a room as gently as that and Nathan simply waited for him to wake up whenever he did.

A soft, sweet, melodic humming touched him and he felt delicate fingers lift his hair from his face. He slowly opened his eyes still believing he was dreaming, knowing very well that when he turned over she wouldn't be there.  
The humming continued, warmer and more lovely than any song bird and he felt her hand slip into his own.

It wasn't real! There is no way it can be real.  
Peter finally turned onto his back, his eyes open and well aware that he was not dreaming.

She stopped humming, "There you are." She said brightly and saw the expression on his face, "Don't worry, I'm not breaking and entering. Nathan let me in before he left – said that you came in late last night."

Peter could not find his voice to speak from the shock he felt. Ellen sat there next to him, whole and alive. She wore her hair down with a baseball cap over it.  
"What's that look for?" she said.

Peter sat up, hardly blinking his eyes for fear that she'd disappear if he wasn't looking. He choked and squeezed her hand – she squeezed back. He put his hand to her cheek and neck – her skin was warm and quite real.

"You're here." He croaked.  
"I'm here." She said softly, "Are you alright?"  
"Ellen." He breathed, pushed forward quickly and kissed her on the mouth – his final test. She responded and kissed back and laughed when his arms took hold of her and held her tightly to him as he kissed her on her forehead and cheeks.

"You're alive." He said, pulling her to him and holding her in his embrace.  
"Of course I am." She said in his ear. "You've been there to protect me whenever I've needed you." She pulled away to look at him. "I'm alive and I'm here, Peter." She said.

He kissed her hungrily, holding her to him and rested his forehead against hers after they pulled away. Peter closed his eyes for a moment, feeling her arms around him, her hands on his skin. He opened his eyes and felt her heart beat against his chest, her warm breath on his lips, and heard her questioning thoughts.

"Peter, you're shaking." She said and pulled him into her arms.  
He kissed her neck as she held him and felt her hand on his neck and in his hair.  
"Did you have one of those dreams again?" her voice was strictly serious.  
_Poor thing. I don't know how he sleeps at all._

Peter truly believed in that moment that he could stay in her arms forever and her in his – that there was no need for him to ever let her go. He leaned back with her until they both lay on the bed huddled next to each other.  
He pushed the baseball cap off her head and kept his arms around her.

"No," he said, "It was a nightmare. I dreamed that you had been killed and that I couldn't save you." He felt a stinging in his eyes at the memory, "I had to live without you."  
"It was only a dream." She said and looked at him closely, "Are you alright?"  
"I'm not sure."  
She cuddled up to him, "Whatever it was, I'm here now and nothing can change that."

Peter couldn't understand it. Everything went back to the way it was, didn't it? Unless that accidental trip he and Hiro had made actually made a difference. But how could that fit?

"What were we going to do today?" he said.  
"You were going to take me to a baseball game." Ellen lifted her eyes to him, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I think I will be." Peter said, lacing his fingers in her hair. "Will you stay with me, just for a little while before we go?"  
"Absolutely." She said  
They fell silent for a minute until Peter spoke again, "Ellen?"  
"Yeah?" she said lazily as though she were falling asleep.  
"Would you sing that rainbow song?"

Ellen smiled, "Okay, but you should know that I charge by the minute."  
Peter laughed, "I'll buy you a hot dog at the stadium."  
"Nachos?"  
"Sure."  
"Deal."

Ellen took a breath and began to sing softly as Peter closed his eyes and fell into the sound of her voice as the memories and emotions of the last few days melted away and left room for the ones he wanted to make with her.

----

"Thank you for coming." He muttered softly.  
"Do not thank me." He replied harshly, "This is no favor to you. I only came because you told me someone was hurt."

Mohinder Suresh packed his supplies back into his medical bag without taking his eyes off of Sylar as he stood there watching him. "I'm still amazed at myself that I actually believed you and decided to come."

"I have no reason to harm you…yet." He said as Dr. Suresh stood.  
Mohinder decided to ignore the threat, "Your friend is stable for now – "  
"He's not my friend." He said quickly.

Mohinder studied him for a moment before continuing, "He really should be at a hospital. There's only so much I can do for him.  
"But, amazingly enough, he will be alright eventually. The wounds have managed to pull themselves together somehow."

Unlike his usual more confident self, Sylar avoided Mohinder's eyes, which made the doctor even more suspicious. "Do you know who he is?"  
"No." Sylar answered too quickly. "I mean – I don't know him very well. He's…family."

Mohinder nodded in agreement. When he'd examined the man he could not help but notice the surprising similarities in appearance between the two men. He started feeling the uneasiness from Sylar and attempted to leave.  
"I would ask you now to never contact me again but even if you agreed I wouldn't be able to believe you." He said as he headed for the door of the studio.

Sylar didn't respond and walked with him to the door.  
"He will need rest and fluids. I cannot imagine how or why you are going to take care of him but I really don't want to know at this point." He nodded, turned on his heel, and strode out of the apartment and down the street.

Sylar suddenly felt very alone. There was a man lying in the bed across the room that was a stranger to him but every bit of him believed that he knew this man very well and for certain. He had literally appeared out of nowhere with his serious wounds and a few burns on his face and neck. Sylar didn't know what to make of it.

He walked over to the bed where the man lay with his shirt off and bandages around the wounds to his chest and stomach. His breathing was sharp and ragged but steady.

Sylar listened to the weak heartbeat but its strength was still there in it – resilient, undying stubbornness was in it. Darkness as well as he'd seen when the man first appeared and demand that Sylar help him.  
Sylar had seen darkness, he believed he was a part of it but this man was so deep in it that it even frightened him a little to behold him.

The man's eyes opened, they were a deep brown under the thick dark brows – very similar to Sylar's features. He took in a deep breath but choked on it from the pain he felt in his chest.  
His eyes fell upon Sylar who stood a small distance from the bed, staring at him.

"There really is no ending is there?" he said gruffly. He eyed Sylar in detail for a moment, "You are afraid of me." He observed.  
Sylar immediately stiffened and stuck out his chin defiantly, "Who are you?" he said.

The man smiled vaguely and chuckled a painful laugh. "You really aren't as bright as you make yourself out to be you know. I remember believing how brilliantly unstoppable I was and look at me now. The same enemies, the same result." He touched the bandage that was over his chest. "It is fascinating how time does that to you. Full circle as it were."

He saw Sylar's confused and curious expression. There was also a small spark in his dark eyes which he knew very well. He remembered that look. It was the look of anticipation, of curiosity, of the desire that drove him to what he was.

"I apologize, Gabriel. I haven't introduced myself."  
Sylar started, "How do you know - ?"  
"I feel we've already had this discussion once haven't we?" he adjusted himself on the bed and rolled his eyes, "I suppose I have to lay it all out piece by piece for you." He said sardonically.  
"First I shall give you the biggest piece. I know you just as you know me, Gabriel. I am you as you are me. We are one and the same. We are both Sylar. Don't you recognize me?"

The End


End file.
